ETHICAL, VEGAN, PLANET-FRIENDLY ADVENT CALENDARS FOR CHRISTMAS 2021
I do love an Advent Calendar. It must be the inner child that just wants to come out and play at Christmas – and, of course, the goodies that today’s calendars contain. But, knowing the impact of waste, plastic, dairy, unethical farming and supply chain practices, and excess packaging, it can rather take the shine off the whole process.
I am a great believer that we can all still live life to the full without compromising our ethics and damaging the environment, so I’ve been on the hunt for some planet-friendly advent calendars for 2021. And I was pleasantly surprised with what I found.
Candy Kittens
Candy Kittens’ 2021 Advent Calendar is created in partnership with TreeSisters, a UK based social change and reforestation charity on a mission to accelerate global reforestation.
Candy Kittens recently achieved certified carbon neutral status and has committed to planting one tree for every purchase of its one-of-a-kind 3D advent calendar tree. So, if you buy an advent tree, they’ll plant a tree!
The 3D advent calendar contains a selection of Candy Kittens’ yummy vegan gourmet sweets, including some new flavours from their Gourmies range, which have been created with real fruit juices and contain no artificial colours or flavours. The packaging is also fully recyclable.
Stockist: candykittens.co.uk, Amazon.co.uk & Selfridges RRP: £12
Approved Food
This is an interesting one. If you’re craving an advent calendar that doesn’t really live up to ethical standards, then this could be a way to have it without too much guilt.
Approved Food is the UK’s largest online-only surplus food and drink retailer. It has a selection of advent calendars that are, in a sense, ethical by nature – all are just past their best before date and would otherwise have been needlessly thrown away.
Food and drink past its best before date is still perfectly good to consume. Where ‘use by’ refers to safety and is given to fresh produce, ‘best before’ is merely guidance, yet the vast majority of retailers and shoppers throw away goods past this date even though they are fine to eat. This contributes to the seven million tonnes of food wasted in the UK every year (Source: WRAP).
Calendars currently on sale include, Hotel Chocolat The Advent Calendar Dark Vegan (RRP £22.99) for £16.99 and Drinks By The Dram Tequila Advent Calendar (RRP £147) for £140.
The selection can differ depending on the stock ‘rescued’ from going to waste by Approved Food.
Stockist: store.approvedfood.co.uk
HAPPi Oat Milk
If you love chocolate but want to be sure it’s planet-friendly and cruelty-free than check out the HAPPi oat milk, vegan chocolate advent calendar.
This is a traditional, flat calendar, with windows you open every day to reveal a yummy vegan chocolate inside. The calendar is bright and colourful – ideal for children and adults.
HAPPi buys its cacao directly from Colombian farmers they have personally visited. They guarantee they are paying a fair price for it and there is no child or slave labour. The cardboard packet is fully recyclable, and the inner wrap is made from plant material (Natureflex) so can be home composted. However, the very thin outer wrap is plastic and will need to be recycled.
Stockist: happifreefrom.com MSRP £7.50
Advent of Change
Advent of Change is a non-profit social enterprise advent calendar which replaces chocolate with charitable donations.
Each Advent of Change calendar donates 50p or £1 per day to a different charity. Every day you open a door, you discover what you’ve given, from clearing turtle habitats, to providing life-changing medicine for a sick child.
The Premium Advent Calendar is ideal for adults and those who want to give a little more. It has a luxury aesthetic and muted colour palette. Buy it for yourself, a caring friend or for the whole family as a great way to start conversations about social and environmental issues and the importance of supporting the charities making a difference.
There is also a children’s advent calendar with bright colours and softer, simpler wording. A surprise interactive element when opening doors will entertain little ones, helping to get them in the Christmas spirit whilst engaging them with the importance of giving back.
Stockists: adventofchange.com and John Lewis from £17.95
Montezuma’s
Just want chocolate – this is the one. Montezuma’s chocolate is fairly traded and uses ethically sourced cocoa from plantations that meet its strict ‘business done properly’ policy. The packaging of their advent calendars is 100% recyclable, biodegradable or compostable.
This year there are three calendars that are suitable for vegans: Absolute Black (100% cocoa); Organic Dark Chocolate; and, for the children, the Kids Like No Udder (which is an alternative to milk chocolate).
Montezuma’s is a UK company, which powers its office, factory and retail stores entirely from 100% renewable sources. The company has reached ‘zero to landfill’ status for all its waste, and follows a set of ideals it calls ‘business done properly’ (you can read all about this on their website).
Stockists: montezumas.co.uk/vegan-chocolate.html RRP £9.99
Divine Chocolate Advent
Another one for the chocolate lover. Divine Chocolate is a global, farmer-owned chocolate company. From bean to bar the company follows fair trade principles. It is committed to ‘doing business differently’ and addressing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – the specific targets aimed at ending all forms of poverty, fighting inequalities and tackling climate change.
Divine Chocolate and its farmer co-op partners share a commitment to empowering women, supporting them in cocoa farming so they may develop the skills and confidence to grow better cocoa, build better communities, and thrive in business.
This year Divine has a Vegan Divine Dark Advent Calendar, which is also Palm Oil free and non-GMO.
Stockists: Traidcraft, Waitrose, Ocado, Oxfam and Wholefoods and Divine Online https://www.divinechocolate.com/product/divine-dark-70-chocolate-advent-calendar
PLAYin CHOC
This is one of my personal favourites as it manages to tick every box!
Available as 12 or 24 drawer advent calendar, this is entirely plastic-free and 100% recyclable.
Each drawer contains a 10g organic vegan chocolate wrapped in home compostable film, plus a 3D card puzzle toy, and a fun facts sheet. Once you’ve opened the drawer and enjoyed what’s inside, return it back to front and it will form a new picture which will be completed at Christmas.
The box is made of card, with a card outer sleeve that can be opened-up into a landscape upon which your child (or you!) can play with the 3D puzzle toys. And of course, the entire drawer set can be used for storage later.
So basically, zero waste, zero plastic, vegan allergen-free chocolate, fun recyclable toys and educational fun facts, plus it’s made in the UK. Not sure you can get much better than that!
Stockist: playinchoc.com the 12 drawer is £27.50 and the 24 drawer is £55
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chantal Cooke is an award-winning journalist and broadcaster and co-founder of PASSION for the PLANET. Chantal is passionate about vegan food, living a full and ethical life, and caring for the planet and the creatures that live on it. You can follow her adventures on Facebook and Twitter @chantalcooke and on Instagram @Chantaldcooke